Heated lather dispenser



March 7, 1967 P. PACITTI HEATED LATHER DISPENSER Filed Aug. 10, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 4

FIG. 6

FIG. 2

In v e n 1 o r Peter Pqcitti March 7, 1967 P. PACITT I HEATED LATHER DISPENS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

Filed Aug. 10, 1964 In v e n 1 o r 1 Peter Pg citti United States Patent Ofiice 3,307,747 Patented Mar. 7, 1967 3,307,747 HEATED LATHER DISPENSER Peter Pacitti, Collingswood, N.J., assiguor to Salpac Company, Collingswood, N.J., a partnership Filed Aug. 10, 1964, Ser. No. 388,401 1 Claim. (Cl. 222-146) This invention relates to dispensers and has for its principal object the provision of a device for the delivery of heated lather in such quantity and at such temperature as may be desired.

A second object of the invention is to provide a small compact, attractive device for dispensing heated lather promptly and in a sterile condition, all parts being free from rust and corrosion.

A further object of the invention is to provide a heater that will effectively transmit heat uniformly through an exceptionally difficult medium, that is, the gas-filled bubbles which comprise lather, and requiring no current until lather is required.

A further object of the invention is to provide a cabinet for a lather dispenser affording ready access to a transformer normally out of sight and for replacing the aerosol can without providing a hinged side, thus conserving space.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation.

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view taken from just below the cover.

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation with the lift-out side wall of the cabinet removed.

FIGURE 4 is a vertical section on line 4-4 of FIG- URE 2.

FIGURE 5 is a section on line 5-5 of FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 6 is a wiring diagram.

The principal parts of the device are a heating element 10 connected to an aerosol can of shave cream 11 by a plastic tubing 12, an electric switch 16 opening and closing current to the heating element 10 and a lever 20 pivoted to the cabinet and operating when pressed down to close the switch and by further movement to depress the central pressure tube 18 of the aerosol can, while continuing to energize the heating element.

The cabinet is formed of stainless steel and has about centrally from forward to back a permanent partition 21. At the bottom of the cabinet to the left of the partition 21 in FIGURE 1 is a downwardly removable bottom 22 upon which is mounted a 6 volt l0 ampere transformer 25 which is positioned centrally in the space 26. While repairs to the transformer will only rarely be needed this arrangement provides for ready access and yet keeps the transformer out of sight.

The front wall 27, the top 28, the rear wall 29, and the permanent bottom 30 are continuous but the side wall 31 instead of being hinged as in previous models is now provided with a finger hole 33 whereby this side wall may quickly and easily be removed by lifting it above the two ledges 34 and then lowering the side wall 31 free of the spring holders 35. This minimizes the space required for the latherizer without in any way lessening the ease of manipulating the objects within the cabinet, such as changing the aerosol can.

At the top of FIGURE 1 about centrally is shown a readily obtainable spout 36 secured to :the front by screws 37 so that this spout is coaxial with the heating element. This spout differs merely from usual in that this brass spout casting has its bottom section or securing flange cut away as at 38 to allow more room for the operators finger to make cleaner removal of lather.

Referring now to FIGURE 2 which is a plan view, the pressure tube 18 of can 11 has its discharge opening directed to the right in the figure in order to clear the heating element which is at the left of the main chamber 41 of the cabinet. The plastic tube 12 is preferably of a very flexible clear plastic sold under the trade name Tycon. The far end of the tubing 12 is secured in a brass fitting 43 having a tapered threaded portion 44 which screws into a member 45 which is secured to the ceramic sleeve 46 of the heating element 10. A ceramic spool 50 has at one one an enlarged portion 51 snugly fitting within sleeve 46 and has a radial bore 52 opening at both sides into the space between the spool and the sleeve. This spool 50 carrieshelically the heating wire preferably of .040 diameter nichr-ome resistancewire so that a space of approximately & of an inch is allowed between the'wi're 55 and the inside diameter of the sleeve 46 so as to leave an unobstructed cylindrical path between the outside surface of the wire and the sleeve through which the lather is to pass. Preferably a lugged spider 49 is mounted on a reduced end of the spool to insure the dimension of this path. The sleeve 46 is held against partition 21 by one or more spring clips 47 so that the heating element 10 is exactly coaxial with the spout casting 36. Two more much larger spring clips 48 are secured to partition 41 as at 53 and have outturned ends 54 to receive readily the aerosol can 11.

Referring now to FIGURE 3 the lever 20 is pivoted as at 56 in a bracket 57 soldered, welded or riveted to the back wall 29 of the cabinet and extends forwardly parallel to the heating element through the front wall 27 ending outside in a thumb piece 58 seen just to the right of the discharge spout in FIGURE 2, the lever thus passing directly over the vertically movable member of switch 16. Depressing thumb piece 58 first causes the switch to energize the heater and later while holding the current on to the heater lowers the pressure tube 18 of the can so that lather is delivered through tube 12 to the heater and and is finally discharged downwardly through the spout casting 36. By holding the lever 20 for about two seconds before causing the lather to flow, the discharged heated lather will be slightly 'warm, but by holding the lever down for as much as four seconds, the lather is discharged quite hot.

The operation is as follows: The can 11 which may be of any size although the professional size (24 ounce) is preferred, is first altered by removing its usual small head and substituting the nylon head shown in order to secure a good connection between can 11 and flexible tubing 12 and designed to make contact with lever 20. The new head 60 as best shown in FIGURE 1 has a cavity 61 receiving a force-fit nipple 62 to which is secured the flexible tubing 12. Cans with the new large heads are now on the market. Pressing down the finger piece 58 at the front of the cabinet first energizes the coil of the heating element and a second or more later, by pressing the finger piece farther down causes the lather to flow from the can and the barber takes the heated lather from the spout 36 in such quantity and temperature as he may desire, which makes it quite easy to obtain a small amount of warm lather for a temple shave or a large amount for a regular shave at a considerably greater temperature. It is convenient to screw in the fitting 43 attached to the tubing before slipping the other end of the tubing over the nipple 62.

What is claimed is:

The combination with .a cabinet of a tubular ceramic sleeve having a cylindrical passage therethrough, an electric heating coil within said sleeve, an electric switch for energizing said heating coil, an aerosol shave cream can having a depressible tube head with a discharge end, a flexible conduit connecting said discharge end with the passage in the sleeve and means for consecutively closing the electric switch and depressing the pressure tube head, said means comprising an elongated manually operated,

pivoted lever having portions for engaging the switch and the pressure tube head in that order whereby to discharge heated lather through said passage in the sleeve, so that by holding the lever in switch closing position for about two seconds before causing the lather to flow, the discharged heated lather will be slightly warm, but by holding the lever partially down for as much as four seconds before completing its travel, the lather will be discharged quite hot, said cabinet having a front wall, a top, a left-hand side wall, a back wall, a permanent partition extending from the front wall to the back wall, parallel to said side side wall, a removable bottom frictionally held between the front wall, the back wall, the partition, and said side wall; said cabinet also including a right-hand side wall; in which the tubular sleeve is mounted on the front wall, the switch is mounted on the inside of the front wall, the lever is pivoted at one end to the back wall, the aerosol can is mounted in spring clips secured to the partition, and the right-hand side wall is removably secured to the cabinet so that it may be lifted out to give access to the can, whereby to eliminate hinges and consequently to minimize the space required for the cabinet.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS ROBERT B, REEVES, Primary Examiner.

F. R. HANDREN, Assistant Examiner. 

